April 2 Newsletter

 
Six members from Kawerau Club attended along with Valentine our exchange student.
 
And we had a magical time, thank you ---- Ses Webster and her team did an amazing job organising the event along with DG Keith and it was grand to see them recognised in the Rotary way with PHFs at the closing. 
 
Ian Finch was a superb MC with a great balance between humour and worthwhile thoughtful comments; he kept everything hanging together. 
 
As always it was fun catching up with Rotary friends from across the district. Some notes from the Bulletin author about some of the speakers and happenings over the three days ----
 
This month's Newsletter is coming to you a little later than normal and for good reason. 
 
A highlight on the District calendar occurred last weekend when we held our annual District Conference.  And wow, what a conference thanks to great support from so many people.  It was held in the magical town of Whakatane to a theme of ‘Rotary – it’s a kind of magic,’ and entertainment included many tricks from a magician over the two days.  Magic was everywhere! 
 
The weather was perfect, guest speakers were top calibre, there was fine dining and good fellowship giving us a conference to remember.
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
Sam spent his year in Vienna, Österreich with the stopover in Los Angeles on the way to Europe being a highlight of the year.
 
Hosted by the Winchester Club of California, students were treated to visits to Disneyland and Universal Studios. Sam began by addressing us in fluent German but admitted that picking up the language was fairly frustrating and took about six months before he felt comfortable. Exchange students from a variety of countries attended the German language course in Altmünster on the shores of Traunsee; the views from their accommodation were beautiful but since it was winter swimming was not a good idea.
Here we are going to publish great parting thoughts from members of Rotary.
 
"Don't worry if plan A fails, there are 25 more letters in the alphabet". - Rotary Club of Otorohanga
 
“If at first you don’t succeed don’t become a skydiver “ - Corolyn from Te Aroha
 
“Gisborne, where the sun spends the winter and the flies spend the summer”  - Alan at Gisborne Rotary
March was a particularly busy month as we push ahead with our plans to increase the number of surgical services we deliver each year and reach more people.
 
Across the month, six programs were delivered in:
 
  • PNG (both Mt Hagen and Madang)
  • Yangon, Myanmar
  • Fiji (both Labasa and Suva)
  • Apia, Samoa.

More than 190 000 polio vaccinators in 13 countries across west and central Africa will immunize over 116 million children over the next week, to tackle the last remaining stronghold of polio on the continent.

The synchronized vaccination campaign, one of the largest of its kind ever implemented in Africa, is part of urgent measures to permanently stop polio on the continent.  All children under five years of age in the 13 countries – Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria and Sierra Leone – will be simultaneously immunized in a coordinated effort to raise childhood immunity to polio across the continent.

Our Rotary Australian - New Zealand Student Exchange participants fly off to Australia from Auckland on April 1st.

This is the 50th year of the Rotary Australia & New Zealand Student Exchange
 
Rotary is perhaps the most respected and safest student exchange throughout the world.
 
Rotary Australia & New Zealand Student Exchange is sometimes called the "matched twin exchange"
 
Pictured are Charles Annals (Hamilton East Club); Joshua Goodall (Morrinsville Club); and Hamish Hawthorne (Rotorua Sunrise Club). 
 
District 9930 Training Assembly is for all Rotarians.
 
District Training is about increasing the understanding of the wide range of Rotary programmes and activities for all Rotarians, and providing an awareness of what’s happening across Rotary.  
 
But I’m new to Rotary… We’ve got some great introductory level sessions for those who are still learning about Rotary and what it does in the world.  
 
This year we’ll be running “Introduction to Rotary”, and “Introduction to Foundation” taken from our popular Rotary Learning and Information (RLI) programme.  
 
There’s always so much more to learn about Rotary than what you see and hear in your club! 
 
 
Rotary’s 108th annual international convention June 10–14 is expected to attract 40,000 Rotary club members from over 160 countries, and will inject an estimated $52.3 million into Atlanta’s economy.

Bill Gates will speak at this year's Rotary International Convention.

Often described as a “mini-United Nations”, Rotary’s third convention in Atlanta will transform the Georgia World Congress Center into a cultural kaleidoscope as the organization’s global network of volunteers gather to exchange ideas on how to improve lives and bring positive, lasting change to communities around the world.